Fate/Zero:Volume 4 Commentary
Nasu Kinoko[edit]
This is how his journey ends.
At long last, the journey of an individual who cannot be considered truly vile or evil, only a man with a mundane and ordinary wish as his goal, finally returns to its starting point, and the curtains fall.
Mistakes along every step of the road.
It is already ten years later when the man who did not attain salvation obtains his long-cherished wish.
"Ahhh – Well done, Urobuchi Gen."
Finished reading all four volumes, I close the book with heavy feelings in my heart and raise my face to the sky before letting out a sincere word of thanks.
Too cruel.
Too heavy.
No one reaches salvation at all.
But despite these sacrifices, there are still some sparks of light remaining in our hearts.
Creation and destruction are a pair of twins. Everything was swallowed up in crimson flames and all disappeared with the wind. Yet in the end, a new life budded forth from a desolate battlefield that should only have been left with infinite sorrow.
This light was infinitely small compared to all that had been lost, but it was incomparably nobler as a result. We who can only watch can only feel touched by that light.
I only hope to add a little more value to the story.
Even if he himself did not succeed in the end, the heir to his aspiration will one day appear –
I firmly believe that the readers of this book feel the same as I do.
An overwhelming sense of speed and pace.
The end came like an avalanche, raiding us one wave after another. The duels of Heroic Spirits, vivid like screenshots, made us almost forget to breathe. Numerous characters passed away one after another.
The first three volumes were just a warm-up. Urobuchi Gen’s ability was finally displayed in all its magnificence in volume four. As you have already experienced, though your heart struggled helplessly under a heavy weight, your hand couldn’t help but keep turning pages to read more of the hellish cycle within.
And yet where did this relief and satisfaction come from? Though sorrow lingered within our hearts, not a hint of regret is produced.
A story in which a man failed his great aspiration also has a reason to exist. That is to show us a strength capable of summoning miracles from the abyss of despair. This strength, which connects the stories that come after it, had been deeply carved into my heart.
With the 4th volume, “Fate/zero” can no longer be called a side story, but a story that truly connects with canon. Different though their forms of expression may be, if they can support and complement each other then “zero” is no longer 0, but could even surpass the fully-developed ‘1’.
Let me say one more thing. “Fate/zero” occurred ten years before the PC game “Fate/stay night”, describing how a hero of justice began his march.
This is a tale that had ‘justice’, this extremely preposterous ‘lip-service' word, as its main plotline. It was truly a tiresome and unrefined story, and Urobuchi Gen made a visual feast out of it.
As a novel, Zero.
As a visual novel, Stay Night.
Two very different forms and styles, and even the authors of the scripts differ.
The original author and the author of this book, Urobuchi Gen.
There are a few similarities in interest between them, but deep inside the differences are rather great: style, ideas, areas of expertise; vegetarianism vs. loving meat, sleep time, and even the preference for girls! Ah, no, the last three had nothing to do with this Commentary. No, really.
“Zero”, written by Urobuchi Gen, was naturally very different from “stay night” in terms of style.
However, the essences of both are surprisingly similar.
At the time of zero's publication, most readers were probably filled with anxiety and expectation. Because Urobuchi Gen is an excellent writer, there was always the possibility that he would strike cacophonic chords when he borrowed the world view of another.
But as you can see, although the instruments in this performance differed from each other, the pitches of the two worked together in perfect harmony, and a wonderful ensemble was performed.
Here, I want to thank the fact that such a famous performer could come and play the music of “fate”, and also hope that you enjoyed this miraculous creation. Although I shouldn’t express gratitude as the commentator, I would like to take this opportunity to express my utmost gratitude toward Urobuchi Gen.
And I am glad that I’ve dispelled, if only a little, the anguish in Urobuchi Gen’s heart.
“I can’t immerse myself in work,” Urobuchi Gen often told me.
According to him, that was the reason why he couldn’t successfully keep creating pieces. In my opinion, however, all of this came about because of his unusual ability to calmly and thoroughly analyze and observe literature.
If, for example, I am a diver immersed in the story, then he would be the all-seeing nautical analyst on the water's surface testing the depths. His powers of understanding and analysis would undoubtedly overshadow me, who only knew how to dive beneath the water.
“What is re-creation?”
In recent years, Urobuchi Gen has often talked about this concern of his.
I respectfully call him older brother, but have often unceremoniously ordered him to do this and that. In my opinion, however, compared to me, he has a particular innocence.
Something happened a while ago.
During a press conference to create a cross-media adaptation, Urobuchi Gen had answered:
“~ Then again, is it really a good thing to adapt the story, which you wrote after so much work, into an anime or a game? You would only have shown it to the world after you believed it was complete. I hope you consider what would happen if you changed the media. It can only become ‘something completely different’, moving further and further away from its original, complete form. I hope you will realize that. ~”
There are a number of “original authors” who, though faintly aware of its wrongness, still bow at the feet of the so-called “joy of expansion.” Even if their hearts are suspicious, when they are faced with their joy and personal modesty, such suspicion seems so insignificant. For this reason, we swallow back our questions.
Urobuchi Gen is purely virtuous, pure enough to detect the fact that “it will be moving further and further away from its original, complete form.” This is almost similar to the virtue of a samurai.
And because of this, he would have the so-called “Re-creation Stress.”
Urobuchi Gen also said this:
“Commercial re-creation isn’t good. A non-commercial re-creation is good~”
Exactly. In writing “Fate/zero”, he didn't have even the slightest intention of going commercial, and only wanted to write “his ideal Fate”. That innocent wish was not stained with anything unnecessary or any factors that placated modern trends. Of course, he himself understands better than anyone else that his own way of life is incompatible with modern society.
Would the reader approve of his own particular moral values –?
Fortunately, “Fate” is a critically acclaimed work. It is the support of many readers that helped guide Urobuchi Gen and “his beloved Fate" onto the right path.
No, it should be said that he never went astray.
It was perhaps inevitable that “Fate/zero” became a saga of blood and tears, describing Emiya Kiritsugu’s progress in blood.
Many people were aware of their own hypocrisy and planned to stop writing thus.
Even more people believed in their love of the original, and so chose to continue writing.
I only hope to add a little more value to the story.
Even if he himself did not succeed in the end, the heir to his aspiration will one day appear –
It is easily said, but Nasu Kinoko couldn't help but feel sad in his heart when he realized that the times when Urobuchi Gen would casually say at 1am, “How does this sound?” and then recount a series of unexpected plots was coming to an end.
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